Tag Archives: Responsibility

I have been a little resistant to writing this blog entry. That is not true; I have been very resistant to writing this blog entry. Why? Because I am failing at something. And who wants to admit that?

I am failing at food logging. MyFitnessPal could not be easier. There is a great iPhone app that syncs automatically with the website. The website sync’s with my FitBit and their website. With these two items working together, if I just logged my weight weekly and my food daily, the combo would do my entire daily calorie in and out as well as exercise count seamlessly. So why don’t I do it? Simply: I think it is lame. To make up for the silliness of counting every grape, I over obsess with it. It becomes this game where if I bounce more, walk more, then it is ok that I had that ice cream. But it isn’t really ok, because all calories are not created equal. So why do all that?

In reality it is ok that I have a cup of ice cream, just not the pint (Peanut Butter and Chocolate from Baskin Robbins in case someone wants to bring me some with that yummy vein of hard thick chunky peanut butter running through the soft dark decadent cool chocolate. Why don’t I want the pint again? (Please note I stole this from the Baskin Robbins website!! I did not give into this craving a few days before a DietBet weigh in!)

Yesterday, I went to lunch with my son, boyfriend and his mom, I ordered a blue cheese burger on sliced whole wheat (no mayo or bacon) with a side salad. When my meal came, I asked for a to-go box, sliced the burger in half and took it home. I satisfied my crazing for a burger without eating a bun or French fries. I felt great after lunch with the right amount of carbs, protein and veggies. How many calories did I eat? No clue. Does it really matter though? I made a smart choice and that is worth logging not how many calories I ate in blue cheese (a burger is not a burger without cheese and all cheese is GOOD). By the way, a cold blue cheese burger and coffee were yummy delicious for breakfast this morning. Dinner for breakfast is one of my top ten favorite food acts.

The biggest problem for me when it comes to diet and exercise is fitting everything into my day. It is always a balancing act, but if I want to be healthy for my son and be here for him, I need to figure it out. I think the mistake many people make is they believe they have to figure it out quickly. I fall into that trap; I always want the quick fix NOW. Well, there is no magic spell or secret potion. The only magic in this world for me is the family Milt and I have begun to build and that is worth taking the time to be healthy for them and for me. So, I have failed at calorie counting, it simply isn’t my thing.

Speaking of family, we just got a new puppy this weekend! He is a 3 month old lab mix and absolutely adorable so I guess I will be doing a lot more walking now! Too bad he can’t bounce on my fitness trampoline!

In some fun fitness news, did everyone see us on Good Morning America? It is always fun to see where our trampolines pop-up! Check out Miss Valerie Bertinilli—America’s Sweatheart and www.jennycraig.com Ambassador—#jumpin on our trampolines!

Has anyone had any success with food logging? Or, the better question would be, how do you keep yourself and your family on a healthy track?

How to survive a holiday weekend built around BBQ, beer and cake? No clue. I could have chosen to stay home, hunker down and pretend that everyone else wasn’t really out having fun spending time with their family and friends. It would have been easy since Milt worked all weekend. Instead, I decided to exercise more and try to eat less. Exercising more did happen. Eating less….happened two of three days and if we were playing a sets of tennis, I would win. But in the grand scheme of “things” having hot dogs and birthday cake (yummy delicious piled high with sugarycolored frosting birthday cake), Sunday night is not that bad.

I walked a total of eight miles this weekend, four of them on Saturday. I was feeling good, I was feeling great. I could do this thing….and that is when I made my tactical error. I have been doing a few 10-30 minute bounce sessions a week as the fabulous Jeff McMullen said to but I decided it was time to branch out and try something new. I was at least smart enough to realize after walking four miles, I might not be ready for a JumpSport Fitness Trampoline Workout Video BUT there are plenty of mini work outs I could try, specifically ones by our own Krista Popowych . While Mac napped on the couch, I decided to try out one or two of the Fit Tips by Krista Popowych. I decided to start with the Cure for Ab Flab.

I watched the three minute video once, and then I watched it again doing the exercises along with Krista. Really it didn’t seem that hard. Finally, I did a five minute or so warm up on the trampoline and then three sets of each exercise. I happily watched a saved episode of Chopped while I exercised (I am a Food Channel junky btw). After I was done, I did another few minutes of bouncing. It was great. Mac slept and I got in a mini workout. Great, right? I felt stronger in my core all day….until I woke up the next morning because I couldn’t sit up! For the last several days, I have not been able to laugh without it hurting! I cannot believe such a simple and easy routine made such a difference. I am going to try her Upper Body Too suggestions later on this week.

I also weighed in today. I am down 3 lbs from last week with six days left to go on my current Diet Bet with the Sweaty Betties. Danny J has been a great inspiration and given a lot of good advice. It is great to be able to talk to people who are struggling with the same things: eating right, time management, and just plain laziness from time to time.

Since I have been able to get my exercising inline to a certain extent, it is time to turn my attention to my caloric intake. Not just the number of calories I am eating but also what specifically I am putting into my body. I am going to use the MyFitnessPal website and iPhone app. I have done it before on and off. I have never been all that great with food logging consistently. But if I can manage to get a workout in while my son slept, I can surely find the time to log and to think about what I am eating. If anyone has any tips on how to make this a simpler process or on what works for them, I am all ears!

About a month ago I walked into my cell phone provider, handed the guy behind the counter my flip phone, and asked how much credit I would get toward one of those new smart phones. He didn’t recognize my phone…at all.

Fortunately, a quick search on his computer revealed the model, make, and year (2010). Baffled, I asked, “Is my phone already obsolete?” Granted, when I bought it, my then 10-year-old daughter wanted me to buy a much cooler phone, but honestly, wasn’t it just a few years earlier that flip phones were the latest thing?

Ok, ok, so I’m late to the smart phone game.

Leaving the store after joining the more than 70 million smart phone consumers around the world, I immediately started to investigate my new, cool gadget. Aside from it being my phone, those early days found me putting it to use as my emailer, my music system, my calendar, my alarm clock, my notepad and then, it happened. I stumbled upon what I call, “The Parent App.”

I found it through Siri, the voice-activated virtual assistant that brings my cell phone to life. Having recently moved to a new city I rely heavily on Siri and her ability, as my talking GPS, to navigate me from point A to point B. She directs me, turn by turn, to the closest Target and the local library, before helping me find that out-of-the-way cafe. Best of all she doesn’t reprimand me when I miss a turn. Instead, she simply alters the route and keeps me on track.

So where’s the parent app come in? Well, after about a week of Siri guiding me around town, I realized I wasn’t paying close enough attention to learn the routes and get myself back to certain places without her help. I might as well have been a disinterested passenger in the back seat of my own car. Yet even there, I wouldn’t have been able to avoid the parenting analogy that became all too obvious.

My experience with Siri gave me good reasons why not to be a “siri” to my kids. Everything I relied on about my new personal assistant is what I don’t want my kids to absentmindedly rely on me for. I’m reminded to stop telling my children when and how to do every little thing throughout their day. It became clear that too much direction from someone, or in this case from some ‘thing,’ actually decreases one’s intuition, thought process, and memory skills, not to mention awareness of the world around them. My cell phone actually pointed out, at times, I can become one of those dreadful “helicopter parents.”

Today, at the end of my first month living with Siri, I still ask her for help when necessary, but I’m also paying more attention to street signs as well as to the way I teach my children. You might say I’m parenting with my parent app in mind. Who knew when I bought a phone, I’d be acquiring better parenting skills too?

Since school started, my house has become the neighborhood hang out. It’s not because we have great snacks or cool video games, no, it’s because we have two trampolines in the backyard that the kids find so irresistible.Despite the south Florida heat, a gaggle of children ages 3-15 skate, bike, walk, or scooter over to our house only to proceed with jumping for hours on end with the occasional “head dip” into the pool to cool down. It was during one of these trampoline soirees that one of our favorite teens asked me about trampoline competition at the Olympics. As a blogger for JumpSport, I had to know the answer, right? Nope. I thanked him for his inquiry (and subsequent topic for the week) and told him that I would get back with him after some research.

The trampoline was first introduced in the 1930’s. George Nissen observed trapeze artists using a net to perform theatrical bouncing numbers between swings and became infatuated. He developed the first prototype and named the product “trampolin,” the Spanish word for diving board. To market and sell his trampolin, Nissen showcased it both as a performance and as a product that could be purchased by the consumer. The popularity of the trampoline spread so quickly, so far that it not only became included throughout physical education classes in the U.S. but also integrated into Naval training programs.

The athletic skill required to trampoline was soon mined and gained international acclaim. Europe embraced the sport with gusto and in recent decades, Japan and China have also cultivated star athletes to compete.

Trampolining has been an Olympic sport since 2000. According to the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, a routine consists of ten contacts with the bed, or mat, of the trampoline combining varying twists, rotations and shapes. In all positions the feet and legs should be kept together and the feet and toes pointed. The positions of the routine include the straight position, the pike position, and the tuck position. Timing is key as it denotes the accuracy and skill of the trampolinist. The competitor both starts and ends with feet on the bed and must remain completely still.

There are varying trampoline competitions including synchronized trampoline, double mini-trampoline, and tumbling. In synchronized trampoline, two athletes perform a routine simultaneously. The double mini- trampoline is a trampoline that is smaller than a regular one and is sloped. Tumbling combines the acrobatics of floor gymnastics with trampoline jumping. Canada’s Rosannagh MacLennan brought home the gold medal at this year’s Olympics and Dong Dong from the People’s Republic of China achieved a gold medal in the men’s trampoline competition. The skill required to jump over 25 feet into the air and perform aerial feats is amazing. You can see many of the performances on YouTube. Watch the Gluckstein Brothers from New Jersey on the Today Show for a quick introduction to the sport, the athletes, and a look at synchronized trampolining.

I hope when you are doing your stationary jogging, criss crosses, jumping jacks, or Plyo jumps on your JumpSport Fitness Trampoline™, you think of yourself not just as an exerciser but as prestigious athlete conditioning for elite competition. Perhaps this will give you that extra gusto to go the extra mile, and attain that critical burn we call accomplishment. Bring home the gold!

Every week, I receive an email from SeaBreeze Organic Farms. This is thee place to get local meats, eggs, cheeses, milks, and more. Usually the email begins with a “Don’t forget your cooler” (they make local stops where people pick up their orders), but the subject of this email was “Grain-fed versus grass-fed beef.

I thought this would make an interesting topic this week. In addition to doing research on beef, I decided to include eggs, after all, the variety of egg cartons and verbiage on each can be quite confusing.

Let’s begin with beef. For many years, ranchers released their cattle to pasture to feed on grasses, clovers, and wild onions. As the demand for food became greater, the majority of those in the agribusiness chose to feed their cattle corn. In one reference from an NPR story, this was analogous to going from eating spinach to hearty oatmeal; the corn fattened the beef up quicker and subsequently the meat was ready for market sooner.

Today grass-fed beef is just the way it was. Cattle forage on the range. They are leaner than their corn fed counterparts and as such have less fat, or marbling. Blind taste tests suggest that grass-fed beef is chewier and has a distinct flavor from the various grasses the cow has eaten. Corn-fed beef on the other hand provides that “melt in your mouth” feel absent in the chewier, grass-fed.

Grass-fed beef tends to be more expensive than grain-fed although, with the drought in the midwest, that may change. Most supermarkets now offer both qualities of meats so you can taste it for yourself. As far as eggs are concerned, you have probably seen these labels: organic, vegetarian, cage-free, free-range. All of these have meanings but are difficult to discern without any poultry knowledge; fortunately, I am a proud member of the Palm Beach Poultry Fanciers so I have a little insight on the subject. Free-range chickens are those that have a chance to go outside and feed on whatever is growing outdoors. Chickens love to peck on insects, grass, and even other chickens (hence the cages). Free range chickens lay an egg with a much darker yolk than those that are fed a vegetarian diet. Cage free eggs mean that the chickens are allowed to roam around the hen house. Some cage free farms offer their chickens pine or straw bedding with nesting boxes. It depends on the farm, however, how much room the hens have to move about. Organic eggs are those whereby the hens are fed organic feed. The feed needs to be grown on certified organic land, no pesticides or herbicides. The hens are kept healthy without the use of antibiotics, hormones or other drugs. They may not consume genetically modified crops.

Vegetarian hens are those that eat only grains. Unlike free range hens that consume grubs, worms, and other forms of insect protein, vegetarian hens feed only on seeds and grains. The yolks of these eggs tend to be much lighter in contrast to those that are free-range.

So there you have it; a basic idea of grass, grain, vegetarian, organic, cage-free. Now when you visit your butcher or your grocery you can have a better idea of how your meat and eggs are raised. Keep me posted about your shopping experience and if you decide to choose grass-fed beef or try a new variety of egg, let me know if there is a difference in taste. You can write your story here on the blog, at the JumpSport Fitness Facebook page or @Fittrampoline on Twitter.

All around the US, children and their parents, teachers, and mentors are ramping up for the beginning of the 2012/2013 school year. Some schools, like ours’ in south Florida, have already begun while others will open their doors after Labor Day. It’s always a time of excitement, perhaps a little anxiety, but it’s a rite of passage for not only our children but for ourselves as we support the students in our lives or perhaps have endeavored on our own academic journey.

School shopping is to August what the holidays are to December. A flurry of cash, checks, and credit cards are exchanged, swiped, and deposited. New clothes, school supplies, lunch money, PTA fees…the financial pressure of going back to school can be daunting and may in fact be the proverbial “wet blanket” to an otherwise momentous time.

As I have established during my time as a blogger, I am an advocate for living within our means, reducing, reusing and, of course, recycling. Using these principles, I’ve devised a method (along with many other frugalistas) that can take the sting out of the financial requirements necessary to attend school, public or otherwise.

Clothing Swaps. I love these! In a nutshell, you invite your friends to empty out their children’s closets (their own too if you want to include adult clothing) and after laundering them and folding them, organizing them by item (shirt, shorts, shoes), they bring their “excess” or donations to your house begin your swap. You can be as elaborate as you want. If you want the experience to have a retail feel, set up tables, decorate, whatever. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. The laundering, folding, and organizing is plenty of work, but everyone has their own idea of fun. To ensure a variety of clothing for girls and boys of varying ages, spread the invitation far along your grapevine. It’s surprising how many folks buy clothing for their children and those items are never worn. You’ll also get to see who the laundry-meisters are (mine is a Slavakian friend that irons everything…everything. Her “hand-me-ups” are the envy of any clothing swap).

So many school children these days have to wear uniforms: khaki or navy shorts, skorts or pants and a collared shirts. These items wash well and can be used again and again. It makes sense and cents to reuse clothing that is standard attire.

In addition to clothing, why not ask for unused or gently used school supplies? How many boxes of crayons does one household need? I invite you to go around your house and see how many pens and pencils you have, do we really need twenty pens? Extra supplies such as paper, Sharpees, high lighters, tape, glue are generally found in abundance in every household. Why not bring that third set of scissors for a chance to swap it out for that stapler you have needed for a while?

Children outgrow not just clothes but shoes, athletic equipment, bikes, helmets, books, backpacks, lunch bags or boxes. Kids want new “themes” in their rooms, why not include lamps, furniture, left over wall paper or glow in the dark stars to the swap?

Take a look in most suburban neighborhoods and any garage door that is open reveals piles of stuff. People cannot even park their cars into the garage because there are so many items clogging that space. Clear out that valuable real estate for a play room, a gym, or a place to park your vehicle. You can clean out your clutter and save lots of money by hosting a clothing swap. Additionally, by shuffling and sharing our goods between our friends and neighbors, we help keep waste out of the landfill: reduce, reuse.

Going back to school is a hallmark of American life, no doubt a global one. It’s a time of newness, freshness, and a regathering of community; seeing friends and exchanging stories of the summer’s events. Why not make this time more special, more extraordinary by pitching in and creating a School Supply Swap? They are really easy to coordinate and a lot of fun. Just bring your hand-me-ups, a few reusable bags or boxes to haul your new goods and maybe a little nosh and coffee to warm things up.

School teaches us to be creative and in these uncertain financial times, being creative is critical to our quality of life. Reach out, bring together, and swap! Forget the store, go next door!

To everyone attending or supervising students, to all the teachers and folks that support education, here’s to you! Here’s to a happy, healthy and successful school year.

Please share photos and stories of your Back to School Swap. Go ahead and upload them to the blog, the JumpSport Fitness Facebook page or on Twitter: @Fittrampoline.

It’s the time of year where we find ourselves on bikes, navigating tight corners to reach the lawn mower, or getting banged-into at crowded venues. Later in the day, a black and blue mark emerges, with a dull pain radiating from the site.

At a recent visit with my dear mother, I noticed that she had many bruises all over her body. She has always been a very, labor-intensive person—having bruises on her arms or legs was a usual result of gardening, building, or boating. This time, however, the bruising was enough to give her pause. She came downstairs and lifted her arms up. With a desperate look on her face, she pointed to the seemingly endless bruises that covered her inner arms. I could see the fear in her and that caused me to get anxious, so I immediately went upstairs to the computer and typed in some key words. It turns out that the steroid my mom uses to control her fibromyalgia, Prednisone, is known for causing bruises as a side effect of the medication.

At this, I remembered an ointment that I had bought at a health food store several years earlier after reading about it in a Spanish novel, arnica. Arnica is a perennial herb native to the mountains of Europe and Siberia. It has been cultivated in the United States. This homeopathic has been in use since the 1500’s and serves as a remedy for muscle soreness, inflammation and the healing of wounds. It is applied topically to the skin and can be made into a liniment, an ointment, a tincture, a salve, or a cream.

The Arnica I found for my mom was an odorless, clear cream. As soon as I came home with it, I took it out of the box, had my mom sit down and began to apply the cream gently all over her body. Within days of consistent use, my mother’s bruises began to fade into a yellowish/green and then vanish completely. The sense of relief brought about by Arnica and its superlative ability to heal wounds is extraordinary.Bumps and bruises, muscle aches are all part of the human condition. It’s very healing to know that ethnobotany has fostered such a cornucopia of treatments for all that ails us. As always, consult with your health care provider before using homeopathic drugs.

With summer in full swing, I offer you a bucket list to make the most out of the season, enjoy!

The summer is ripe for the picking and offers innumerable opportunities to engage our bodies, our minds and our energy to doing good things. Whether to enrich your own understanding of your environment or lend a hand to your community, the warm weather provokes memory making and out of door activity. Take advantage of the long daylight hours, balmy temperatures and sojourn from the everyday grind to relax, breathe new life into your routine and strengthen your sense of belonging to the world.

20 Things to Guide You Outside:

1. Plant a garden! From pots to plots, consider a palette that incorporates native plants for wildlife, herbs, flowers, and edibles. Visit botanical gardens or clip out images that appeal to you and make them your own.
2. Whatever floats your boat! Pick up some inexpensive floaties, tubes or “suped-up” noodles and jump in the local pool, lake, or ocean and just enjoy bobbing in an aquatic environment.

3. BBQ: find some new recipes and try your hand at cooking outside. Experiment with kabobs that include fruit, root vegetables, or pound cake!
4. Garage sale: host one or go to them. Clean out clutter in your house and make some extra money for a field trip or two, or find something new to collect and enjoy the hunt of finding that special item.
5. Photo expedition: birds, clothes on a line, dogs, rooflines, alley ways, etc.. Whatever image you find appealing, from post offices to moss, get out there and shoot!
6. Leaf press, dry herbs, create a floral arrangement. Lavender wands, dried rosemary, or a bouquet of “weeds” are fun crafts to do by yourself or with others.
7. Make a lemonade stand, and your loot can go to your adventures or to a special cause.
8. Take a bike ride. Rent bikes or load yours into your car, the train, or a bus and cruise around an area on a two-wheeler. This unique mode of travel can give you an original perspective of any neighborhood, city, or trail.
9. U-pick: head out to a nearby farm and pick your own fruits and vegetables. Close your eyes as you taste produce that you picked yourself.
10. Volunteer at a local animal shelter and offer to walk dogs or clean up paths.
11. Learn about local architecture and take a look around; put theory into action and cultivate an appreciation for windows, columns, gingerbread and vernacular building styles.
12. Host a movie under the stars; classics, family or sci-fi-put up a screen (sheet), borrow a projector and voi la! An event is made.
13. Make s’mores. Whether you own a fire pit or use the park’s grills, organize a gang to roast marshmallows and create this classic American treat.
14. Pitch a tent: borrow a tent from a friend and set it up in the backyard or a local camp site. There’s nothing like sleeping in the confines of a modern lean-to.

15. Dry the laundry on a line. Save energy and freshen up your clothes and linens by hanging your sheets, clothes and blankets on the line or fence to air dry.
16. Clean up the environment: help weed out nonnative invasive plants, plant native ones, and clean up garbage from natural areas.
17. Have a breakfast picnic. Pancakes on a griddle, oatmeal in a crock pot, or homemade granola. Roll out of your jammies and enjoy breakfast in a park, on a lawn, or at the beach.
18. Bring your JumpSport Fitness trampoline outside and have your workout in the fresh air.
19. Support community redevelopment: offer your time to paint, sand, sweep, run tools for a local group that helps repair or build housing, or participate in building preservation.
20. Learn to ID birds and local flora and fauna.

As we begin to enter the heart of summer, what are your plans to reap the sunshine? What types of experiences have you already cultivated or have circled on your calendar? Maybe you have taken on tye-dying or basket-weaving? If so, take pictures and post them here on the blog or on the JumpSport Fitness Trampoline™ Facebook page. You can even upload images from Instagram onto the Twitter, @FitTrampoine.

Have fun!!

Heidi Aspen Rhoades
Social Media Correspondent and Fitness Professional
@aTweetFit